Barely 24 hours after a suicide bomber killed five persons in the ancient city of Kano, a twin explosion rocked Jos, Plateau State at the University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) area, and inside the terminus market. No fewer than 14 persons including two policemen were feared dead.
The hitherto peaceful Plateau of late has witnessed its own share of bloody upheaval, with many blood-bath and properties worth millios of Niara destroyed.
The details of casualty remains sketchy at the time of this report, but a witness said the explosions shook the entire area causing major panic in the city. Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO) Frank Mbah, confirmed the incident, but stated that he was yet to get casualty figure.
The bomb allegedly exploded in the central areas of Jos, Plateau State. The heavy explosion was heard at about 2:55pm Tuesday afternoon.
Casualties is said to be high because the explosion happened at a densely populated areas of Ahmadu Bello Way where the GSM market is located.
Sound of the explosion was heard in Bukuru, which is about 20km from Jos city. The bombs exploded simultaneously, according to a top Police source. The source also told our Correspondent, that already some of the injured have been taken to the nearby University of Jos Teaching Hospital. It was also gathered that the deadly explosion ripped opened one of the Hospital’s wards wall.
It would be recalled that Police operatives in Kano, had foiled what would have been a second bomb blast in Kano, less than 24 hours after the first one that rocked a drinking joint in the same Sabon Gari area of the State. This is even as security has been doubled at public Schools in and around Makurdi, Benue State, following an unverified threat letter allegedly from Boko Haram sect.
If the second blast had occurred, it would have been a repeat of Nyanya, Abuja episode, in which there was a second blast at the same scene similar to the first one. Police in Kano ancient city, in the North West Nigeria, were on point this time around, averting what could have been another devastating bomb blast in the city.
Boko Haram insurgents had earlier claimed responsibility for the attack at the popular El Rufai bus terminal in Nyanya, Abuja, which claimed at least 75 lives and an estimated 141 persons injured, after a bomb was detonated at Nyanya bus station during morning rush hour. The incident happened on April 14th.
Security operatives were still battling with the first blast and its collateral damage, when the second bomb allegedly went off in the same Nyanya killing some 14 persons on May 1st.
But Kano Police operatives, acting on intelligence, tracked and recovered a Mitsubishi Station Wagon car, ash colour saloon car, with registration number Kano – AE 756 GSW loaded with assorted gas cylinders, one container of fuel and other electrical components of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), which would have been the second blast in the Kano city neighbourhood.
Police said, should the devices had gone off, “the impact would have been devastating. Human lives would have been wasted because the entire vehicle was filled up with explosives,” a Police office in Kano Zonal command said.
The Force spokesperson, Frank Mbah, in statement confirmed the incident and added that the situation was under control. The vehicle was recovered at Tafawa Balewa Street, Nasarawa area of Kano State and has since been rendered safe by Police Bomb Disposal experts. Meanwhile, security agencies in Kano have commenced investigation into both the aborted blast as well as the last night bomb incident.
